Pressure Cooker Dal & Rice Recipe | Marathi Varan Bhaat Recipe

Learn To Cook | Basics

Learn how to make dal rice or varan bhaat or dal chawal in a pressure cooker. Don’t have a pressure cooker? Learn to cook rice to perfection without a cooker.

Lets check out this simple Pressure Cooker Dal & Rice Recipe

3.0 out of 5 stars (based on 1 review)
This is the first major step in our cooking journey. I have introduced you to Basic Ingredients required in Indian Cooking, Varieties of Post & Pans used and various Cutting & Chopping Techniques. Now, its time to make one simplest go-to meals in many Indian homes - Simple Dal & Rice
One of the staple foods in India is dal rice. Variously called dal chawal or varan bhaat, you can make it in a million different ways which I will cover in my subsequent pages. But in this tutorial, I will focus on basic steamed rice and dal cooked in a pressure cooker. Then I will show an easy way to cook rice without a cooker.

Don’t want to read, Watch the Video Recipe

Read my notes below or watch the video

Ingredients

  • 1 cup tur dal / moong dal (split pigeon peas)
  • 1 cup rice
  • 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
  • pinch of asafoetida / hinga
  • 6 cups white flour (sifted)
  • water

    • WASHING, SOAKING & ADDING WATER IN THE DAL

    It’s very important to wash the dal as it’s covered with a thin powdered layer Once its washed,you can soak the dal in water for 30 mins, this makes the dal cook faster
    The exact water quantity is not so important in dal. You can always add more once the dal is cooked, but make sure you have added enough so that the dal is completely soaked in it, or else the dal will not cook. Soaking the dal is optional though.

    PREPARING THE DAL

    In the soaked dal, add turmeric and hing or asafetida. Turmeric is very good for health and gives the dal a nice golden yellow colour, while hing masks the strong pungent aroma of the dal.
    Node: do not add salt in the uncooked dal. The dal will require a very long time to cook. we will add salt once the dal is cooked

    WASHING & SOAKING RICE

    Pressure Cooker:

    After some time when the steam starts coming out, you can place the whistle on top Now, wait for 3-4 whistles.

    Check the rice level by marking your finger. Remember, different varieties of rice require slightly different water levels As a rule of thumb, you need to add double the amount of water, now add water slowly and check the water level with your finger again

    ADD DAL & RICE IN COOKER

    Keep the steamer plate:

    Place the flat plate steamer here like this, and pour water so that its completely submerged. There should always be water in there for steam to be generated and avoiding any accidents

    Keep Dal & Rice:

    keep the dal inside first, it is kept at the bottom as it requires more heat than rice to cook, then stack the rice on top of the dal, cover and close the cooker.

    Finally place the cooker on the gas.

    COOK DAL & RICE IN PRESSURE COOKER

    Pressure Cooker:

    After some time when the steam starts coming out, you can place the whistle on top Now, wait for 3-4 whistles.

    once done

    check if there is still quite a bit of steam and pressure inside the cooker still. We must wait for it to cool down completely. Once the steam is cooled down, then is the time to open the lid of the pressure cooker. To best way to do this is to gently try to move the whistle. If it moves easily without any resistance, that’s when you know the steam is cooled down.

    FINISH COOKING THE DAL

    Remove the cooked dal from the cooker and pore it in a vessel, Remember we have not added any salt to the day, so just pore the cooked dal in a vessel, and churn the dal, with a hand held churner like this or you can use a hand blender.
    Now place it on the gas, and add some water as per your linking of the consistency of the dal. Stir occasionally so that it does not stick and let it simmer. Our simple dal or as we call it varan is ready and take it off the gas

    COOKING NON STICKY RICE WITHOUT PRESSURE COOKER

    Take some rice , wash it just like before and fill the vessel with water. Here the water quantity should be more as there is no steam to hasten the cooking process.
    lets place it on the gas & Keep a lid on top and make sure there is an opening there to let the steam escape or else your rice will spill over. Wait for about 10 – 15 mins and check. The rice grains seem to be almost cooked.

    COOKING NON STICKY RICE WITHOUT PRESSURE COOKER (cont)

    Cover this up and switch off the gas. Keep them covered for 4-5 mins, the rice will be cooked completely in the steam trapped within the lid.
    We will drain the remaining water now, you can also wash with more water so that the excess starch washes away and you get a good fluffy non-sticky rice.

    Commonly aksed Questions

    What goes well with this recipe?

    Did you tried this Recipe?

    3.0
    3.0 out of 5 stars (based on 1 review)
    Excellent
    Very good
    Average
    Poor
    Terrible

    Recent Reviews

    No Title

    November 2, 2025

    (It’s very urgent, therefore we kindly ask you to forward this message to your CEO. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please ignore it. Thanks)

    Dear CEO,

    This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration in China. On October 29, 2025, we received an application from Baokang Holdings Ltd requested the “Simplysimplecooking” as their internet keyword and Chinese (CN) domain names (Simplysimplecooking.cn, Simplysimplecooking.com.cn, Simplysimplecooking.net.cn, Simplysimplecooking.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your website name or company name. In order to deal with this matter better, it’s necessary to send this message to your company and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?

    Best regards

    Adam Liu

    General Manager

    https://www.chinaregistry.org.cn/

    Tel: +86-2161918696 | Fax: +86-2161918697 | Mob: +86-13816428671

    12F Kaike Building, No. 1801 Hongmei Road, Shanghai 200233, China

    Adam Liu
    akshay-talpade

    Hi I am Akshay

    I am a Software Engineer by profession but a foodie at heart. I am in love with food! I enjoy the explosion of flavours on my taste buds and am always ready to try different cuisines. One of my fondest memories as a child is sitting on the kitchen counter, watching my mother cook. But as I travelled for work, I missed the tastes of home.
    And that was the birth of Simply Simple Cooking YouTube Channel & later this blog.

    Search more recipes

    Top Recipes from category